JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 21 (UPI) -- Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. will close or sell 326 stores, cutting 22,000 jobs, the Jacksonville, Fla.-based company announced Tuesday.
The grocery company also will reduce the markets where it does business from 37 to 23, the Jacksonville Business Journal reported.
The closings are expected to reduce revenue from $10 billion annually to $7.5 billion, the Journal said.
The company sold roughly 40 percent of the stores that were removed from the company in last year's downsizing.
Company officials said at a press conference that Winn-Dixie does not know what costs will be associated with the closure and sale of the exited stores, the Journal said.
The publication said the closings represent a retreat south for the company, "which will abandon its already small presence in Tennessee and Virginia and its considerable foootprint in the Carolinas."
